


Black Talon Ritsu

by SushiGirl



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Human Trafficking, Ritsu's done with this shit, Slavery, Tenryuubito | Celestial Dragons | World Nobles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24066736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SushiGirl/pseuds/SushiGirl
Summary: When he was younger, Ritsu promised himself he'd do anything to achieve his goal. Now, standing on the deck of the Straw Hat Pirates ship, he finally believes he can do it.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. The Man Whose Name Is Ritsu

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, 
> 
> This is my first time posting a multi chapter fic of any kind, so please attempt to be gentle. 
> 
> To answer questions before they're asked, I don't know if there's gonna be pairings or not because I haven't decided yet. Also, I'll warn you right now, I'm a huge lover of boyxboy romance so if I ever do include a relationship, it's gonna be that. 
> 
> Anyway, constructive criticism is welcome :) 
> 
> Have a great day and stay safe!

The delicious smell of the cooking of the Baratie restaurant soothes him as he carefully cuts the piece of fish on his plate. He sips his red wine and listens in on the patron’s conversations.

“Did you hear? Marine Captain Morgan was beaten the other day. Rumour has it that it was a lone pirate that did it.”

“Really? I heard it was a whole crew that did the deed.”

Ritsu scoffs at the large contradiction between the two stories of the women gossiping at the table behind him. He filters their voices out and turns his attention towards the table in the corner. It is engulfed in shadows and promotes a feeling of shadiness that the tables in the light do not. Perhaps the feeling of secrecy would indicate better intel.

“The World Nobles are acting up again. They’re visiting a bunch of lower nobles and acting like stuck up pricks.” A male voice mutters to his friend.

“What’s changed? Every other week they decide to go bother some poor sod with their presence.” They growl back.

Now, this was some interesting information. Ritsu perks up with the hint of what he was looking for. Just as he starts to lean further towards the potential lead, a large BOOM splits the air and the Baratie shakes. The muttering stops as the men realise where they are.

Ritsu glares towards the source of the noise in frustration. Whatever that sound had been had ruined his chances of easily gaining the intel he needs.

As the men get up to pay, Ritsu subtly follows. He shadows them as they leave the front door and sits down with his back to the fence. As they enter their ship and sail away, Ritsu whistles to call down one of the many seagulls waiting for the food scraps.

He thrust his hands towards the seagull in a triangle shape. “Oculi Noctua” he intones.

The bird's eyes change from its natural gold to Ritsu’s own dark purple. As he urges it to fly towards the slowly leaving boat, he loses sight of his body's surroundings and instead sees and hears through the seagull.

He perches the seagull on the railing behind the men and waits for them to resume their conversation.

“I heard all of the World Nobles have been recalled.”

“You mean they’re going back to Sabaody?”

“Where else?” the man sarcastically huffs.

“No need to be rude, I was just shocked. Still... I wonder what’s going on.”

Having gained all of the information he thinks he can squeeze from them, Ritsu breaks the connection between himself and the seagull. He feels a tingling sensation as he resumes experiencing things through his own body.

When he opens his eyes, he comes face to face with a boy wearing a straw hat crouching in front of him. The boy's large brown eyes were startlingly close to his own and their noses are touching.

“Whatcha doin’?” the boy loudly asks.

“Gathering information” Ritsu states, attempting to end the conversation. Obviously, the boy doesn't catch the drift as the next second he is once again asking a question.

“Why’re you doin’ that?”

Ritsu sighs.

“Because in this world, information is power. People that know their enemies' footsteps can more easily end them.” he bluntly replies. He finally stands up, forcing the boy to step back or get hit on his forehead.

As Ritsu begins to walk back into the restaurant in an attempt to gather more information, the boy sticks his head into his field of vision and asks another question. This time, his eyes are shiny with excitement.

“Does that mean you’re like a ninja?”

Ritsu once again sighs, this time in exasperation.

“No, it just means that I'm good at gathering intel.”

As he attempts to walk around him, the boy jumps in front of his path and yells.

“JOIN MY CREW”

The man stares in both shock and faint frustration, wanting nothing more than to be left alone. He shoulders past the boy and returns to the front doors.

“And why should I do that?” Ritsu asks somewhat sarcastically.

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy and I’m gonna be the Pirate King. I need only the best people in my crew. Also, ninja are COOL!”

The boy beams like he’d already succeeded in convincing the older man. Obviously, that is not the case as Ritsu wryly shakes his head and goes to sit down once again.

Just as Luffy attempts to follow him, a bunch of men in chef outfits grab him under the armpits and drag him upstairs away from Ritsu. There, a man with a peg leg stomps to sit on his bed as he glares at the boy. Above him, letting in lots of natural light, is a hole in the roof. Sitting downstairs, Ritsu watches through the dark purple eyes of a seagull as Luffy gets forcefully told off by the restaurant owner.

“For giving me life threatening injuries and damaging my restaurant, you’re gonna be working for me for the next year” the man states in a gruff voice.

“ONE YEAR?!” Luffy yells looking shocked and nervous. He plants his feet resolutely and points a finger into the owner's face.

“Cut it down to just one week” he tries to convince.

The old man stared unimpressed and crosses his arms.

“You think you can destroy my restaurant with a cannonball, leave me critically injured, and then make it up by only working one week without pay?” He sounds almost incredulous as Luffy nods.

“YOU LITTLE BRAT” he yells and kicks Luffy hard with his peg leg. Luffy falls through the roof, thus incurring more expenses. Ritsu chuckles at the boy's misfortune as he is forced to begin taking orders.

As Ritsu begins to go back to his information gathering, there is a crash as one of the patrons gets beat up by a chef with blonde hair and a curly eyebrow. The other chefs yell, attempting to stop the beat down, but are completely unsuccessful. It is only when the owner comes into the restaurant from the kitchen that the chef looks to calm down slightly.

“Owner Zeff!” the other chefs cry in relief.

To end the fight between the marine Lieutenant and the chef Sanji, the owner kicks both the chef and the marine and tells the marine to get out of his restaurant.

Just when Ritsu thinks he can finally get back to his spying, the restaurant door is forcefully pushed open and everyone’s attention was once again stolen. In the doorway, with blood dripping down his face, stands a marine.

“Lt. Fullbody! It’s an emergency! The underling of pirate Krieg has escaped!”

As he finished saying this, there is a gunshot from behind the man and he falls to the ground seemingly dead. Standing where the marine once was is a man in a threadbare outfit, covered in blood.

He slowly walks towards a vacant table and sits down. As he does so, he looks towards the gathering of chefs.

“Anything will do... Just bring me some food.” the man says dispassionately.

One of the braver chefs stride towards him to take his order only to stop and think.

“Pardon me, dumbass, but… do you have any money?” the large man asks with a wide customer service smile on his face.

The starving man threatens the chef and is promptly thrown out of the Baratie onto the balcony of the restaurant. The rest of the patron’s cheer.

With that, both Luffy and the blonde chef disappear outside.

When Luffy eventually comes back inside and everything goes back to normal, Ritsu calls Luffy over to talk.

“Seems like you won’t be becoming the Pirate King anytime soon Luffy. Guess I won't be able to join your crew.” Although this was said emotionlessly, Luffy swears he sounds vaguely amused.

Just as the boy goes to answer, he notices his crew sit down at a table and order. Wanting to go show his anger to his friends but not wanting to let Ritsu get away, Luffy drags the older boy out of his seat and towards the other table.

Getting to their destination, the green haired man and the red haired woman eye Ritsu critically while Luffy shoves him towards a seat. As soon as the older man is seated, Luffy starts ranting.

“You leave me here to work and go off to eat delicious food all by yourselves!?” he yells at his friends. The crew begins to snigger as he gets worked up over the injustice.

“It’s a free world, we can do whatever we want.” the green haired man teases through his crew's laughter.

Ritsu eyes the captain in exasperation as he childishly sticks some of his snot into the green haired man's drink. The man glances into Ritsu’s eyes and the older man realises what his plan is. Zoro lunged towards his captain and force feeds him his own booger drink.

“How could you do this to me!?” he chokes as he grabs his throat and rolls around on the floor. Soon, Luffy goes back to normal and begins the introductions.

“Ritsu, this is Zoro -” he points at the green haired man with three katana on his hip as he watches him from the corner of his eye.

“Nami -” he points at the only female. The woman eyes him distrustfully even as she attempts to manipulate the flirty chef waiting on them into giving her a free meal.

“and Usopp.” Lastly, he points at the man with the long nose who's getting mad at the flirty chef.

“Guy’s, this is Ritsu. He’s gonna be our ninja!” Luffy exclaims. 

Ritsu just sighs and attempts to keep up his calm in front of one of the most frustrating people he's ever met.

“I never agreed to be a part of your crew” he said blandly. “And I’m not a ninja, I’m an intel gatherer.”

As he looks to the crew, he shares an unusually commiserating stare with the now named Green haired man. Obviously, Zoro had felt the stubbornness of Luffy when he wanted someone to join his crew.

As the flirty cook walks away from the table in a daze, Luffy sits down and starts drinking tea. Nami looks extremely pleased at not having to pay a single beli whilst Usopp curses the chef under his breath. Soon, Sanji notices that Luffy isn't working and drags him away with a newly formed bump on his head.

At that moment, Ritsu decided that although the boy frustrates him immensely, at least he's entertaining. Because the Straw Hat boy was hanging around and he needed a little more time gathering information, he decided to stick around for a while.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Before Ritsu realises it, two days had passed at the Baratie. He spent his time eating good food, spending time with the Straw Hats and gathering interesting, and not so interesting, intel.

The patrons of the restaurant scream in terror as a massive pirate ship cuts through the waves towards them. The flag flaps menacingly, macabre skull and crossbones holding up two hourglasses.

“It’s Don Krieg’s pirate ship!” one of the patron's yells.

Behind the clump of scared patrons gazing out the window, a group of chefs rounded on one of their own.

“Look what you did Patty! They actually came here!” The large chef who’d thrown out the pirate two days before sweats in nervousness.

Still seated at his table, calmly sipping red wine, Ritsu watches with Sanji and Luffy as the doors are blasted open for the second time. The patrons startle and slowly turn around to see what new horror could be waiting for them.

Standing in the doorway, struggling to hold up the weight of the larger man leaning on his shoulder, was the pirate from two days before. Just as Gin had been, the large man looked about ready to keel over from lack of sustenance. The patrons begin to whisper to each other in fear.

“Sorry for intruding… but could I have some water… and food?” he asks in a weak voice. “If it’s money you want, I’ve got plenty.”

As the men stumbles forward further into the restaurant, the patrons' whispers finally catch Ritsu’s attention.

“That’s Don Krieg! I heard he commands over five thousand pirates!” one of them mutters in a low voice to their cowering buddies.

Ritsu stares in indifference as the man known for having the strongest pirate crew in East Blue crumples to the floor and begins to beg for help. The large chef who looked nervous not even five minutes before stands in front of him and laughs.

“Hey! Contact the Marines immediately. This is the perfect chance for the Government to arrest him!”

With almost no warning, Sanji kicks Patty in the face and knocks him out. At this, Ritsu almost wanted to whistle in appreciation for the man's balance. The man carries with him a rice dish and a jug of water that he offers towards Gin.

“Thank you!” leaves the pirate captains lips as he begins shovelling food into his mouth.

As the chef begins to walk away, the other chefs begin yelling. Ritsu listens with interest as they recount how Don Krieg came to prominence as the strongest Pirate Captain in the East Blue. Of course, he already knew the details. Even when looking for specific information, he always keeps up to date on the local news after all. To not do so could be to his detriment.

Just as the chefs finish their yelling, Don Krieg suddenly stands up and coat hangs Sanji. The blonde man crashes to the floor with a bang and a grunt of pain.

As Gin yells in shock, Ritsu glances towards Luffy as the boy begins to vibrate in anger towards the other captain. Watching him like this, the older man realises what makes Luffy so undeniably charismatic. The boy had barely known Sanji for two days, yet he was already so loyal and protective towards him.

Don Krieg stands up to his full height and stares over the people covering in front of him. His mouth turns down at the corner as he almost sneers out his next words.

“Nice restaurant you’ve got here. I’ll take it.”


	2. Owner Zeff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey again!
> 
> I've written a few chapters ahead, s unless I severely lose interest in this story, I should be updating this every Tuesday. As I posted the first chapter on Friday I felt too exited to wait for the next one :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Stay safe and happy wherever you are.

The patrons didn’t dare move as the Don cast a cursory glance around, acting as if through staying as still as possible, they would just melt into the furniture, invisible. As soon as one of the chefs started yelling, they snapped out of it and run out of the restaurant and onto a boat to escape. 

Although he was tempted to join them in fleeing, Ritsu thought that he might gain critical information in this altercation. He knew he made the right decision when he remembered how much Don Krieg liked to talk.

As the Don demanded food, the chefs began protesting, saying that they wouldn’t make any food for someone who was going to steal their ship. The light behind the Don seemed to wither away as he glared at them.

“I wasn’t asking whether or not you’d do it… I’m ordering you.”

The chefs startled, realising for the first time since the man came through their doors that he was extremely dangerous. As Sanji began turning to walk away, one of the chefs asked where he was going.

“To the kitchen in order to prepare enough food for a hundred people.” he stated in a blunt tone.

This obviously didn't go down well with the other cooks as not two seconds later Sanji was surrounded by a ring of guns pointing right at him. The blonde didn’t seem to be shocked as he opened his arms in acceptance. Meanwhile, Ritsu tensed his body with a deadpan expression, preparing for a fight.

“Fine, stop me if you wish.”

He looked straight into their eyes as the chefs began to look uncertain.

“Go ahead, shoot.” he prompted.

He stood there, solid in his convictions. The chefs pointing guns at him stared with startled expressions. Ritsu could only look on in slight admiration as the blonde stood there, going against the people he’d spent most of his life with. 

“A cook should freely be able to feed anyone who’s starving. Isn’t that ideal!?” he said with a strong voice.

Suddenly, Patty balled up his fist and knocked Sanji down for the second time of the day.

“Hold him down!” he yelled at his fellow cooks.

Sanji looked up at him in consternation as his limbs were pushed firmly into the ground. Off to the side, Ritsu felt annoyance welling up inside of him as people got in the way of Sanji. He may not have felt it was the best course of action, but if the blonde felt so strongly about it, there must have been a good reason for his actions. 

Everyone startled as Patty turned around and hauled a large cannon towards Don Krieg. As he did, he yelled out one of the strangest attack names Ritsu had ever heard.

“How about an iron dessert!? INDIGESTION MEATBALL CANNON”

He could only look on in bemusement as Krieg was forced backwards and out the restaurant doors. Why someone would name one of their attacks such a strange thing, Ritsu would never understand.

The large chef looked on in satisfaction as what seemed to be the Dons smoking remains laid back against the restaurant fence. The chefs of the Baratie began to cheer but just as suddenly as they began to celebrate their victory, they were forced to stop.

Standing where the smoking remains once were, a gold covered Don Krieg stood back to his full height and mocked the cook.

“Serving that pile of crap for dessert… this is the worst restaurant I’ve been to.”

The cooks began charging him with giant cutlery as weapons. Parts of his golden armour popped open only to show large guns. Every last chef that attempted to attack the pirate captain was defeated instantly. 

Don Krieg stood there and began to gloat. 

“You damn worms think you can defy me!? I’m the strongest! This steel arm, more powerful than that of anyone! This body of steel, tougher than anyone else's! And this diamond fist that can pulverize anything! My entire body is a finely tuned weapon!”

Ritsu rolled his eyes as the man stopped his attacks to do a villain monologue. Could the man not wait until everyone that wasn’t interested was dead before he began to bore them to death? 

Before the Don could finish the speech about his own greatness, the restaurant owner set a large sack of food before the armoured man. Ritsu looked on, impressed at the speed in which the food must have been made.

“There’s enough food here for a hundred people. So, hurry up and bring it to your men.” The owner said with his gruff voice.

The cooks of the restaurant were shocked out of their inactivity.

“Owner Zeff! Sir, how could you give them food!? Once the pirates on that ship recover, they’ll take over our restaurant!”

Don Krieg stood stock still with his mouth slightly parted and his eyes widened in shock.

“Did… Did they just say ‘Zeff’!? You’re… ‘Red-Leg Zeff’!”

He looked towards the restaurant owner in disbelief. As he gradually got over his shock, he began to look contemplative.

“So, you were alive, Red-Leg Zeff… The peerless captain of his own pirate crew.”

The head chef stood in front of his downed employees and stated evenly back at the Don. Ritsu looked towards the owner in interest. Finally, he’d gained some information he hadn’t known previously. Not fleeing with the rest of the patrons was really starting to look worth it.

“So, what if I’m alive?”

From beside the owner, Luffy looked on in anger for the actions that were occurring. Hanging at his sides, his hands were curled into fists just waiting for a reason to begin punching the egotistical man.

As his contemplative expression left his face, Don Krieg began to absolutely beam at his own brilliance. 

“You’re a man that once braved the waters of the devil’s hideout, the Grand Line itself! Not only that, you returned without injury.”

The pirate captain began smiling even brighter.

“You must’ve kept a Log during your time in the Grand Line. So, what I’m getting at…” 

The armoured man stuck out his hand towards Zeff, palm up. 

“Hand over that Log to me!”


	3. The one who'll become Pirate King is me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for updating a day late, I had a very important assignment that I had to get done before I could even think of looking at this fic again... 
> 
> Thanks for the support you guys have shown me so far! It's really helped to boost my confidence in my writing.
> 
> Stay safe and happy <3

Ritsu watched as Luffy’s eyes began to shine as he looked up at the head chef with admiration. Once more sipping at his red wine, the older man enjoyed the fact that he was gaining intel without having to do a thing. 

“COOL! You’ve been in the Grand Line, old man?” 

Zeff didn’t even bother looking the excited Straw Hat’s way. 

“Yes.” 

Instead of being intimidated into complying like the Don wished, Zeff seemed to scoff. Ritsu agreed with the sentiment. As if a captain would hand over something as precious as their travel Log. 

“That Log is the pride of me and my men who bravely ventured the Grand Line together. It’s much too valuable to give to the likes of you!” 

Although Krieg seemed to not be surprised by the answer, he still looked extremely angry at the denial. 

“Then I’ll just steal it from you!” the man stated as he began dashing forward to attack. 

As he did so, the rest of the chefs moved in front of their employer, once more wielding giant cutlery as weapons. This seemed to anger Don Krieg further until he was once more monologuing about how powerful a man he was. Ritsu rolled his eyes at the man for a second time. 

“The difference in strength between you and I is as clear as night and day. Don’t you dare forget that I’m the strongest! Once I obtain Zeff’s travel Log, I’ll reassemble my pirate fleet and find One Piece to become the greatest pirate of this era!”

After the armoured man declared this, Ritsu looked on in interest as Luffy strode to the front of the group. Firming his stance and putting one hand on his hip, the boy pointed the other at the pirate captain. 

“Hold it right there! The one who’ll become Pirate King is me.”

The chefs behind him began to panic and urge him to back down on the issue. Ritsu looked on with a slight widening of his eyes as instead of doing so, Luffy firmed his stance even further, crossed his arms in front of him and smiled confidently. 

“I’m not standing down, especially on this point!”

Ritsu stared in awe at the confidence and charisma that the boy was exuding. 

“This ain’t a game.” Krieg growled menacingly. 

Sadly for him, Luffy wasn’t intimidated in the slightest and just continued beaming.

“Of course.” 

From further in the room, Ritsu suddenly heard a panicked voice start ranting to his fellow crew member.

“Did you hear that just now? Even Krieg couldn’t make it in there! Let’s just give up on going to a place like that!”

Joining everyone in turning around, Ritsu noticed that the rest of the Straw Hat crew sans Nami had entered the restaurant whilst he wasn’t looking. 

“Just keep your mouth shut.” Zoro replied in annoyance. 

Noticing that they’d attracted the attention of everyone present, Zoro leaned back in his seat. Propping one of his katana over his shoulder he stared intently in anticipation of a fight.

“You planning to rumble Luffy? Need a hand?” 

Luffy looked back at his crewmate with a calm expression. 

“Oh hey, Zoro, Usopp. Nah it’s fine, you can just stay sitting down.” 

Zoro looked slightly put out by his captain's order. Suddenly, mocking laughter washed over the restaurant as Krieg opened his mouth wide. 

“Those are your crewmates? A rather small bunch, aren’t they?”

Realising that his friends were being made fun of, Luffy became serious. Ritsu developed an eye twitch at having to listen to Krieg’s grating laughter. 

“What are you talking about, I’ve got three others as well!” Luffy said in total seriousness.

Simultaneously, both Sanji and Ritsu turned towards the Straw Hat captain with deadpan expressions. 

“You included me in that count, didn’t you?” Sanji asked, exasperated. 

Ritsu, meanwhile, simultaneously felt the urge to both facepalm and punch the younger boy in the back of the head. After spending two days with the boy, joining his crew didn’t seem as far fetched of an idea as it once did. Though Ritsu didn’t really mind the thought, he wished that Luffy would wait until he said yes before he included him in his crew count. 

Don Krieg seems to once again overflow in anger, screwing his face up and yelling. 

“Don’t joke with me punk! Even my fleet of fifty ships and five thousand pirates were decimated by that devilish sea in just seven days!” 

This information prompted Usopp to cower further into the table whilst Zoro just looked on in interest. 

Ritsu, itching to find out how the destruction of ships had occurred, felt the urge to get up from his table. Instead, he relaxed back into his seat to wait for the information to be revealed. In his opinion, Don Krieg seemed to be the type of man to monologue on his own misfortune. 

Finally calming, Krieg grabbed the sack of food that was left forgotten in front of him. Hauling it up he began to walk away. Half turning back to look over his shoulder, Krieg menacingly grinned.

“I’m going to give this food to my subordinates and then return back here. I’d suggest you leave this place within that time if you don’t want to die.” 

The man then walked out the door, leaving Gin behind. The man was kneeling on the floor, body shaking with regret. 

“Sanji… please forgive me! I had no idea that this would happen!” 

In reply, Zeff walked in front of his vision wearing a resolute expression. 

“There’s no need for you to apologise. The cooks of this restaurant acted out of their own free will and this is the result of that.” 

This seemed to remind his employees of the actions that Sanji took that lead to this event, thus prompting them to throw accusations towards the blonde. Whilst Sanji looked content to take the abuse, the owner stepped in to defend him. 

“Have any one of you been hungry enough to die? Do any of you know just how terrifying and painful it is to be stuck in this ocean, deprived of food and water!? If you’ve got time to be crying over spilt milk then just leave this place using the back door!” 

Although their employer just gave them the go ahead to run away, this instead seemed to solidify the cooks willingness to fight. Once more equipping themselves with giant utensils as weapons, they began marching towards the door. 

Gin, seeming to realise this, looked at them in panic. As he began to yell at them, they came to a stop. 

“What are you all doing!? Haven't you realised how powerful the Don is by now!? You need to run away!” 

Instead of dissuading the cooks they stared in solidarity as Sanji sat down next to the panicked man. 

“Hey Gin… Let me tell you something. It’s my duty as a cook to feed anyone who’s starving. But the ones who’re coming to attack this ship are those who have already been fed.”

He paused dramatically to take a drag of his cigarette. 

“So, you better not complain when I kill them.”


	4. Nami did what?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for how short this chapter is. It was going to have the entire contents of the next chapter in it as well but the chapter got too long so I stopped it here. To make you happy though, the next one is very large and exciting! 
> 
> Stay safe and happy :)

Ritsu sipped his red wine leisurely as he watched Luffy attempt to sell Sanji as the crew's new cook.

“What do you think about him? Pretty good, right”

Instead of humouring the Straw Hat boy, Usopp sweat nervously at the thought of fighting another pirate crew. 

“Who cares about him! If we don’t get out of here soon…” 

Zoro meanwhile sat calmly waiting for the fight to begin. 

“Calm down. Our enemies are wounded pirates.”

Ritsu snorted as, instead of comforting the cowardly boy as it was obviously meant to, this comment made Usopp remember that they, sometime soon, were going to the Grand Line. 

As Luffy lost interest in his crew’s shenanigans he wandered back towards the front of the restaurant. Spotting Gin still kneeling on the floor, he asked the question that Ritsu was itching to have answered. 

“Oh that’s right, Gin. You said you didn’t know anything about the Grand Line. But didn’t you guys go there?”

The older pirate seemed to curl into himself at the question, gripping his head and rocking his body back and forth. Ritsu sat up straighter in his chair preparing for some good intel. 

“I’m still wrestling with it in my mind… He just appeared all of a sudden… To think all fifty ships of the Krieg pirate fleet were destroyed by a single man!” 

Ritsu stared at Gin, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. The other occupants of the restaurant use a less silent manner to express their shock. 

“WHAT!? IMPOSSIBLE!” they all yelled. 

Seeing as his audience showed obvious disbelief at his story, Gin continued explaining the details of their misfortune. 

“While we still had no clue what was going on our ships sank one by one… And if it weren’t for that storm that whisked us away, even our main ship would’ve sunk.” 

Suddenly the man raised his head and stared right into the eyes of his audience, his eyes half crazed and disbelieving. 

“I don’t even want to think about that Hawk-Eyed man whose glare is sharp enough to kill a man! I don’t want to think about him!” 

As soon as he said this, both Zoro and Ritsu sat up straight in their seats, eyes wide and shock displayed on their features. Though both men knew of who Gin is speaking, only one of them truly wished to ever see the ‘Hawk-Eyed’ man in real life. 

Next to Zoro, Luffy and Usopp looked towards Gin in confusion. 

“Who’s that?” 

“Beats me” replied the Straw Hat boy.

Zoro leaned towards them and got an intense look in his eyes. Ritsu, watching from a few tables away, eyed the ambitious man, questioning why he was interested in one of the Shichibukai. 

“He’s the man I'm searching for.”

Ritsu’s eyebrows shot up his forehead and he began to question the younger man's sanity. Then, looking at the man's katana, he came to his own conclusion as to why the man may be looking for the Strongest Swordsman. 

Coming back to the present and hearing yelling, Ritsu realised that whilst he had been analysing the swordsman, he had missed a part of the conversation. 

“You mean to tell me that he destroyed our entire fleet for that!?”

Calm in the face of Gins anger, Zeff stood steady. 

“No need to get so irritated, it was just an example. That’s just the kind of place the Grand Line is.”

Realising he missed gaining some information about one of the Shichibukai, Ritsu felt immensely annoyed at himself. 

“That sounds like such a thrill! We’ve definitely gotta go there!” Luffy cheered as he grins and pumped his fists in excitement. 

Whilst Usopp freaked out at his captain's enthusiasm, Zoro once more leaned back in his seat and smirked. 

“With this, it looks like my own goal is inextricably tied with the Gran Line. Considering that ‘that man’ is there as well!” 

Over by the door, Sanji muttered about how the crew were a bunch of idiots rushing to their deaths. In response, Zoro looked steadily into Sanji’s eyes with conviction.

“Ever since I decided to become the World’s Greatest Swordsman, I threw away my attachment to life. The only one who has the right to call me an idiot is me alone.” 

Sanji scoffed at the man. Ritsu, meanwhile, was slightly mollified at his loss of intel when his theory of Zoro’s reasoning was proven correct. 

The chefs seemed to one more realise that they’re about to be attacked as, one by one, almost animalistic human howls pierced the air. They hurried out the doors of the restaurant gripping their weapons. 

Seeing as the action seemed to finally be starting, Ritsu took one last sip of his red wine and joined the crowd of chefs outside. As he moved to the front of the group, he began to fiddle with the miniature crossbows located on his wrists, making sure that full clips of bolts were loaded. 

Suddenly, as it seems the enemy was about to attack, large slices appeared on their ship, cutting it in thrice. Ritsu, shocked, watched as the last ship of the Krieg pirates became mere debris. 

The Straw Hat pirates, realising that their ship would be damaged in the resulting waves, moved towards where the Going Merry was docked. Having nothing better to do, Ritsu followed Luffy, Zoro and Usopp around the corner to save the ship. Instead of seeing the Going Merry however, all they saw was Johnny and Yasuke struggling to stay afloat in the choppy waves. 

“The ship! Where’s the ship!? What happened to Nami!?” 

Johnny and Yasuke, still barely keeping their heads above water began apologising. 

“Sister Nami… Took the treasure and sailed away!” 

All three of her crew members, shocked and angry, yelled.

“Whaaaat!?”


	5. Mihawk vs Zoro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late! I had an exam yesterday that absolutely kicked my ass. As i've now entered exam time, I may be a bit late for the next update. Studying doesn't really allow time to write too much after all :/ 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter and take care of yourself!

Half listening as the Straw Hat pirates realise the crisis they’re in, Ritsu wanders back towards the front of the restaurant. 

From around the corner he hears Luffy. 

“I want her to be our navigator, no matter what!” was stated in a resolute voice. 

When Luffy and Zoro finally join him at the front of the restaurant they are missing Usopp and the bounty hunter brothers. Sending them a questioning look, Zoro answers the unasked question.

“Luffy is sending them after Nami. They’re getting ready for the journey.” 

Nodding in understanding, Ritsu looks back towards the spectacle taking place in front of him. As he stares towards the wreckage, a lone man sails through what was once the Krieg pirates ship. Looking closer, Ritsu realises who the man is. 

Zoro, after realising the same thing, tenses up with anticipation. A vicious and intense look enters his eyes, startling Ritsu who stood next to him. 

The chef's state their disbelief when Zeff tells them that the man cut the ship with the large sword on his back. Further disbelief prompts Zeff to finally say who the man floating in the coffin looking boat is.

“That ‘Hawk-Eyed’ man is a renowned swordsman. More renowned than any other swordsman in the world. After all, he’s the World’s Greatest Swordsman, Mihawk.”

Though Ritsu had already taken a guess as to who the man was, getting confirmation startles him as he realises that he’s in the same space as Dracule Mihawk, a very dangerous man. He begins to sweat slightly as he attempts to come up with a good escape plan. 

One of the Krieg pirates works up the courage to yell a question at the lounging swordsman. 

“What did we ever do to you!? Why the hell did you have to follow us all the way out here!?”

Gazing at the pirate with a disinterested look in his eyes, Mihawk deems to answer the question posed to him. 

“Just to kill some time.”

Hearing this answer and feeling enraged at the loss of their ships and crewmates, the man fires his pistols hoping to kill the swordsman in retribution. Instead of hitting the man, however, the bullets are redirected away with the tip of the large blade. 

Feeling extremely impressed with the Shichibukai’s skills, Ritsu glances at where Zoro once stood only to see the space vacated. Looking forward, he sees the Straw Hat’s swordsman staring down the World’s Greatest with an intense gaze. 

“You said you’re free right? Let’s have a duel.” the green haired man states, pointing one of his katana in a threatening manner. 

Once again, for the second time of the day, a monologue about a person’s strength begins. This time, instead of feeling exasperated, Ritsu listens intently to the man's words. After all, people who became that powerful must have some great wisdom. Him sharing his thought process with them could be a great learning possibility. 

“If you're a competent swordsman by any means, then I can demonstrate the clear difference in strengths between you and I without needing to cross blades at all.” 

The man pauses to look Zoro up and down.

“But still, you dare to challenge me. Does your bravery come from your conviction… or from ignorance?” 

Zoro unsheathes all three of his katana before answering. 

“It comes from my ambition and a promise to a friend. To be honest, I never thought I’d be able to meet you so early on...” 

Crossing his arms, Mihawk doesn’t even bother to grasp his sword as Zoro gets ready to attack.

“A waste, if you ask me.” 

Ritsu couldn’t help but agree with the man. Even knowing Zoro was seen to have the strength of a ‘demon’, the man knew that there was no chance that it would hold up against that of the World’s Greatest strength. 

Watching as Mihawk grasps the bottom of his cross necklace, and Ritsu feels offended for the sake of his friend as the man pulls out an extremely short blade. 

“What’re you planning to do with that?” the greenette growls. 

Mihawk, looking unaffected by the animalistic sound leaving his opponents throat, begins to explain his actions. 

“I’m different from those stupid brutes who’d go all out just to hunt a mere rabbit. Though you may be a swordsman of some renown, this is the East Blue, the weakest of the four seas that are separated by the Redline and the Grand Line.”

Looking condescendingly at Zoro, Mihawk holds the knife aloft.

“Unfortunately, I do not have a blade smaller than this at the moment.”

Growing angry at the clear jab at his skills as a swordsman, Zoro lunges forward, fully expecting to be able to release his anger on the man in front of him. 

“There’s a limit to just how much you can underestimate me! YOU BETTER NOT REGRET IT WHEN YOU DIE!” 

Not looking threatened whatsoever, Mihawk takes the last seconds before Zoro reaches him giving advice to the other man. 

“Hear me, frog in his well. It’s time for you to realise that the world is bigger than what it seems from your well.” 

As Zoro yells his attack name, “ONIGIRI”, Ritsu is shocked speechless as Mihawk uses the tiny blade in his hand to stop all three of Zoro’s katana. No strain shows on the World’s Greatest’s face while the green haired man puffs with strain. Ritsu notices that Zoro’s eyes are widened in disbelief. 

Jumping back slightly, Zoro attacks in a flurry of strikes, hoping to overwhelm the other man. Each strike is effortlessly and precisely deflected as Zoro is forced back and onto the ground. Standing back up, the younger man once again attempts to go on the offensive, sending one strike after the other. None of his strikes hit their target. 

Stopping Zoro’s katana once more, Mihawk takes the time to taunt the younger man with a question.

“What burdens you so? What do you still desire at the extent of your strength, weakling...?” 

Zoro stares at the other man in shock. Luffy and Ritsu grab hold of the back of Yosuke and Johnny’s tops as they attempt to attack the man insulting their ‘bro’. Grabbing their heads, Luffy slams them into the ground and continues to watch the duel with a tense expression on his face. Ritsu, standing right next to the Straw Hat captain, clenches his fists on the railing as he realises that Zoro is being played with. 

Making another attempt at striking the World’s Greatest Swordsman, Zoro lunges forwards as he growls his attack name.

“TORAGARI”

The younger man's eyes suddenly widen as, using his own momentum against him, Mihawk stabs him in the chest. Ritsu can hear his heart thumping loudly in his ears as he watches Zoro drip blood across the deck. The railing of the restaurant gives a warning groan as it begins to snap under the strength of his grip. 

Mihawk stares at the younger swordsman inquisitively as the man refuses to step back from the blade in his chest. 

“Do you wish for me to pierce your heart thus?” the man questions. “Why do you refuse to step back?”

Coughing blood around the katana in his mouth, Zoro stares into Mihawk’s ‘Hawk-Eyes’ as he answers.

“Beats me… Not really sure myself… But I get the feeling that if I were to take even one step back right now, I’d lose something very important to me… a promise or oath… or whatever it is, would be irreversibly broken and I’d never be able to return back to where I’m standing right now.” 

Mihawk stares intensely back into Zoro’s eyes. 

“Yes, such is defeat.”

Zoro chuckles slightly as he looks down as the blade sticking out of his chest.

“Then that’s why I can’t step back.”

Ritsu watches as the interest in the older swordsman’s eyes intensifies. 

“Even if it means your death?” 

Zoro gazes steadily back into the other man's eyes, exuding conviction even as his blood stains the deck of the ship. 

“I’d much rather die.”

As he looks at the Strongest Swordsman, Ritsu sees newfound respect in his eyes as he regards the green haired man. Retrieving his blade from its place inside Zoro’s chest, Mihawk allows some of that respect to show. 

“Kid... tell me your name.”

As Zoro prepares for one last attack, he deems to answer the man's request.

“My name… Is Roronoa Zoro.”

Showing even more respect for the green haired man, Mihawk grasps the pommel of the large blade on his back and points it in the younger swordsman’s direction. 

“I shall remember it, for your strength is not oft seen in this world. And to pay my respect to you as a fellow swordsman, I shall end this duel with Yoru, the World’s Strongest Sword.”

Ritsu holds his breath as the two swordsmen lunge towards each other. As the two pass each other, two of Zoro’s katana shatter under the strain and a large slice begins bleeding on Zoro’s chest. Sheathing his only remaining katana, the man turns to face Mihawk and opens his arms in acceptance of his fate. 

“A wound on one's back is the shame of a swordsman!” 

The elder swordsman gives the other a pleased smirk as he holds Yoru aloft and then brings it down in a sweeping ark.

Next to Ritsu, Luffy finally gives in and yells for his crewmember. 

“ZORO!” 

With a gaping wound across his chest, the green haired man loses consciousness and falls backwards into the water. Unable to do anything because of their devil fruits, both Luffy and Ritsu watch tensely as Yosuke and Johnny jump into the water to save him. 

Feeling enraged at the state of his crewmember, Luffy uses his devil fruit to throw a punch at the stationary Mihawk. The man dodges easily, causing the rubber man to crash into the side of the ship.

The World’s Greatest Swordsman looks down at Luffy as he attempts to get up. 

“Fear not. That man is still alive.” 

Just at that moment, Yosuke and Johnny haul the injured Zoro to the surface and onto their boat. Ritsu sighs in relief when he sees the man breathing somewhat steadily. The man looks back up at the World’s Greatest as he begins to speak once more. 

“I am Dracule Mihawk! It is far too early for you to die. Know thy self! Know thy world! And become strong, Roronoa!” 

Ritsu looked on in awe as a man that once called Zoro a ‘weakling’ now encourages him to get stronger.

“No matter how many months or years pass by, I shall stand here at the top of the world and wait for you! So, forge on ahead with that fierce conviction and try to surpass my sword! SURPASS ME, RORONOA!” 

The man turns to Luffy as the boy glares up at him. 

“Boy, what do you aim for?”

“Pirate King!” he replies instantly.

Mihawk smiles and closes his eyes as he continues the conversation taking place.

“A tough path indeed. Even tougher than surpassing myself.” 

Childishly, Luffy sticks out his tongue towards the swordsman. 

“Whatever! I’m going to do it anyways!”

Suddenly, Ritsu hears Yosuke, Johnny and Usopp panicking as Zoro uses the last of his remaining strength to hold up his remaining katana. 

“L-Luffy… C… Can you hear me…?” the man asks in a soft but strong tone.

At the affirmative reply Zoro keeps speaking.

“Sorry for worrying you… I know… That if I don’t become the World’s Strongest Swordsman, it will only embarrass you!” 

Zoro coughs up some blood before he continues.

“I SWEAR! I’M NEVER GOING TO LOSE AGAIN! UNTIL THE DAY I FIGHT HIM AND WIN… I SWEAR... TO NEVER LOSE AGAIN!”


	6. The Fins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I kinda lost inspiration for writing and had to stop for a few days to recoup. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and have a great day :)

Losing the strength needed to keep his katana in the sky, Zoro’s arm drops back down onto the ship's deck.

“Any problems, Pirate King!?”

Luffy, proud of his crewmember, beams as he answers.

“Nope!” 

Mihawk looked on at the duo in satisfaction. 

“You make a good team. I’d like to see you two again sometime in the future.” 

From behind the Greatest Swordsman, Don Krieg pops out of the woodwork, ruining the moment. Standing by the railing of the restaurant, Ritsu looks at the man in bewilderment as he straight away begins bragging once more. 

“Hawk-Eyes! Did you come all the way out here for my head? The head of the infamous ruler of East Blue, ‘Don Krieg’!?”

Once more looking emotionless and disinterested, Mihawk doesn’t even bother turning around to answer. 

“For a while, yes. But I’ve already enjoyed myself here. And so, I’ll return back to my nap.” 

Ritsu almost snorts at the clear dismissal of the egotistical man. The Don however seems to have not been dissuaded from his next action. 

“You may have had your fun, but I sure haven’t! HOW ABOUT YOU DIE BEFORE LEAVING!?” 

Almost looking done with the man, Mihawk grasps Yoru and huffs out his next words. 

“Hmph… you never learn, do you? Farewell.” the man states as he further destroys the Krieg Pirates ship and begins sailing away. 

As the sea once again rocks with intense waves, Luffy gets thrown around on the piece of debris that he is perched on. He looks towards Johnny and Yosuke’s ship containing two of his crewmembers and waves to gain their attention. 

“Usopp, go on ahead!” 

Agreeing with his captain's orders, Usopp yells one last encouragement as the ship leaves. 

“Zoro and I’ll definitely bring back Nami! So, you make sure to get us a cook and a spy master!” 

Ritsu finally gives in to the urge to connect his palm to his face as he realises that all of Luffy’s crew members had gotten used to the idea of him being a part of their crew.  
Ritsu begins smirking as he comes to a conclusion. If Luffy can beat Don Krieg, he should be strong enough to make it in the Grand Line. Since Ritsu needs to travel that devilish ocean anyway, he may as well tag along for the ride.

Throwing a wrench in his plans, the thought that he may lose his ability to gather information pops into his head. His eyebrows scrunch up in thought as he tries to think of a solution to his problem. Suddenly, a solution comes to mind. All pirate crews stop at each island they pass. When they do so, Ritsu can slip away to a bar and gather his information before meeting back up with the crew.

The man looks at Luffy with satisfaction. 

From close by, Sanji watches Ritsu as his face flicks through a range of emotions. When a lightbulb forms above the other man’s head, he decides not to worry about strange people and once again focuses on the problem at hand.

“Once we have six people in our crew, LET’S HEAD TO THE GRAND LINE!” Usopp continues before the ship gets too far away for them to easily hear what is being said. 

Luffy looks off towards the swarm of Krieg pirates getting ready to attack the Baratie once more. 

“Hey, old man! If I chase them all away for you, will you let me off the hook?” 

Thinking it would be a fair trade, Zeff agrees.

Instead of listening whilst Krieg stupidly admits his future plans to his enemies, Ritsu looks towards where both the Going Merry and the retrieval ship had gone. He worries his bottom lip with his teeth as he wonders how Zoro is going.

Hearing a gunshot, Ritsu zones back into the happening of the outside world. He scowls as he realises that Krieg had shot one of his own men in the head for doubting him. Looking scared, the rest of his crew almost look to be cowering before the gold plated pirate as he yells at them. 

Suddenly, the Don Krieg crew’s disposition does a one eighty as Krieg once again states why they are fighting to win the Baratie. 

“Red-Leg Zeff spent an entire year in the Grand Line, meaning he must’ve found some method to deal with those monsters! And that method is written down in his Travel Log for sure!”

Luffy, hanging off of the balustrade of the restaurant, looked impressed as the other crew began to charge towards the chefs. 

“WOAH! They’re all fired up to fight too!” 

As he stands beside Sanji, he hears the blonde giving orders to one of the other chefs. 

“Open up the ‘fins’. The old geezer won’t shut up if we fight inside the restaurant.”

Looking annoyed, the head chef glances towards the other man. 

“You say something brat?” 

“Yeah, I said you won’t shut up.” Sanji says as he pulls at his mouth in a mocking expression.

Ritsu chuckles at their banter as he looks back towards the charging Krieg pirates. Seeing Luffy seemingly ready to use the railing as a slingshot however, he feels the beginning of a migraine forming. 

“If this is what he’s always like, I may have to look forward to a lot of stress.” he mutters to himself as Luffy lets his feet stop gripping the floor and slingshots himself towards the other crew yelling “Gomu Gomu Rocket!”. 

Realising this, the other crew begin panicking. Stretching his arms out abnormally long, the boy then yells another attack name.

Now flying right in front of the opposing crew, Luffy stretches out his arms and coathangs those unfortunate enough to be within range. Flying backwards into the water, the Krieg Pirate crew looks back in shock at what a Devil Fruit user can achieve. 

Ritsu, meanwhile, looks on in trepidation as Krieg mocks the inherent weakness of having eaten such a fruit. 

“I’ve heard that Devil Fruit users are weak against the sea… Is that right, rubber boy?” the other captain mocks. 

Oblivious to Kreigs true plan even as his mouth pulls up into a smirk, Luffy cheerfully responds. 

“I can’t swim but in return, I can stretch!”

Whilst both crews look at the young man in shock at his naivety, Patty and Carne burst out from the front of the Baratie in a weaponised fish paddle boat. 

Ritsu looks on in exasperation as, instead of cooperating and destroying the attacking pirate crew, Patty and Carne get into a squabble over the lack of cohesion in their paddling. After they finally reach a consensus, the fish shaped paddle boat goes full speed ahead towards the scared looking Kreig pirates. 

The startled yell of “Oh SHIT” is cut off as bullets rocket forwards to decimate the remainder of the pirate crews ship.

Meanwhile, Ritsu watches in interest as the chefs open something they called the ‘fins’. Slowly, a platform of wood rises to lock into place against the Baratie and the fighting space is doubled. 

Sanji, now in fight mode, steps forward, clutching a smoking cigarette between his teeth. 

“If you pirates want to fight, then bring it”


	7. The Soul of a Cook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm once again late so i'm very sorry! I'm not completely proud of this chapter, I feel it could be better with a little more editing but I'm already late by two days so this'll have to do until I have time later. I'm also once again behind schedule on writing the next few chapters so next week may be a doozy :/
> 
> Anyway, have a great day and stay safe!

From their position floating in the sea surrounding the restaurant, the Krieg pirates clamber onto the new space. Shouting their arrogance, they charge the defending chefs. 

“Just what the hell can a few measly cooks do against us pirates!?”

The cooks charge forward with their own battle cry.

“Don’t you dare look down on us cooks of the sea!” 

Ritsu, a calm expression on his face, readies his crossbows and keeps his arms steady to aim. He lines up his sights properly and fires the deadly crossbow bolts into the swarm of pirates. The pirates give pained shouts as he watches the bolts sink into the flesh of their arms. Dropping their weapons, they look at him in shock at how quick he was to disarm them. 

Seeing that the Kreig pirates are now weaponless and unlikely to attack further, Ritsu straightens from his ready position and gazes towards where he had last seen Patty and Carne. Watching as they speed towards Don Kreig, Ritsu face faults as he  
once more hears Patty shout something strange as a battle cry.

“Become soup for the fishes!” 

As the fish boat smashes into the place where Kreig just was, Ritsu further relaxes out of his battle stance. No way could Kreig have survived the total weight of the boat at full speed. He once more tenses when he glances towards the pirates and sees them looking smug. Perhaps he had been too hasty in his assessment of Kreigs defeat.

His fears come true when he hears Patty and Carne stutter in shock. 

“WHA?! W-We’re not moving!”

Edging forwards to get a better view of what’s going on, Ritsu’s eyes widen as he realises that Don Kreig is holding the boat back with one hand. A cold sweat breaks out on his skin as he sees that though the boat looks to be the weight of at least ten canons, the man shows no strain whatsoever. 

With an unperturbed expression, Kreig doesn’t even shift as he bears the full brunt of the boats weight. 

“I’m Don Kreig the man who’ll rule all of the world’s oceans!”

Unnoticed, Luffy exclaims in the background about how the one to be the Pirate King would be him. Suddenly, Kreig’s expression shifts into one of aggravation as he shouts.

“I ain’t got time to play around with the likes of you!”

Grasping the front of the fish boat, Kreig yeets it across the sky as Patty and Carne scream in fear. Glancing at Sanji anticipating he would need to hold him back, Ritsu is instead shocked to see Sanji casually taking a huff of his cigarette. As Sanji sighs out a cloud of smoke he closes his eyes in exasperation. 

“All talk and no substance… useless bastards.” 

Ritsu snorts at the lack of care the chef has for his coworkers before he notices a shadow falling over them from the sky. Looking up, he sees that the fish boat that Patty and Carne were holding onto for dear life was now falling towards the Baratie.

Without hesitation, Sanji jumps up and kicks the boat away from the restaurant. Everyone, including Kreig, looks shocked at both the strength and heartlessness of the action. Meanwhile, Ritsu once more snorts in amusement at the lack of shits Sanji gave. 

Patty and Carne burst out of the water spitting mad. 

“Sanji! You trying to kill your own side?!”

Turning away from them and taking another puff of his cigarette, Sanji answers with a deadpan expression.

“Yeah.” 

Ritsu’s snorts change to small chuffs of laughter as his shoulders begin to shake. Patty and Carne stomp into Sanji’s space and point angry fingers into his chest. 

“Did your brains become boiled into stew, you idiot?!” Patty yells.

“You almost lost two powerful fighters, you spaghetti-head!” Carne continues. 

Hearing a loud thump from the front of the ‘fins’ Ritsu and the arguing chefs turn around to see that the Kreig pirates have retrieved their weapons and began their attack anew. 

“Powerful? HA! Even if you hold weapons, a cook’s still a cook.” 

The pirate leers as he holds his cutlass before him in a threatening manner. 

“Don’t compare us to other pirates you’ve crossed before! We’re pirates of Don Kreig, the ruler of East Blue!” 

Looking towards the downed chef’s, Patty and Carne attempt to encourage them to stand and continue fighting. 

“Are you gonna let them beat you that easily!? And you call yourselves fighting cooks!?”

Looking disheartened at the criticism, the chefs look up with rising determination as Patty and Carne speak of the importance that the Baratie holds for them. Suddenly, the two chefs turn towards the attacking pirates and grasp their weapons tight. 

“There ain’t another place as good as this restaurant! As if we’d hand it over to you pirate scum!”

Feeling empowered by their conviction, the two dash forwards swinging their giant cutlery almost wildly. Ritsu watches mildly impressed as the pirates are cut up and fall to the ground.

Suddenly, Ritsu feels a shiver go down his spine. Whilst keeping an eye on the fight taking place in front of him, he subtly glances around in an attempt to see what had tripped off his senses. Shrugging when he sees nothing out of place, he attempts to focus entirely on the fight once more. 

From behind, he hears a clank and a splash. As he turns towards the sound, a deep, nasally voice speaks right by Ritsu’s ear. 

“The hell are you guys doing?” 

Before Ritsu could fully turn around to see who was able to sneak up on him, he gets blasted backwards by a strong hit to the face. Holding his hand up to his face gingerly, Ritsu touches the steady flow of blood coming from his nose and steadies his head as it rings. 

Looking around he sees that Patty and Carne had suffered a similar fate. Finally turning to the man who attacked them, Ritsu fights to keep his expression neutral as a derpy looking round plate man presents himself. 

“Hahahahaha! Behold my invincible wall!” 

Wondering who the strange looking man is, Ritsu listens as the Kreig Pirate crew calls out his name in happiness. 

“Pearl!” 

Having solved that mystery, Ritsu stands up and feels a wave of dizziness hit him as he stumbles. Suddenly next to him, Sanji grasps his shoulder to steady him as the nausea gradually recedes. 

Seeming to have regained their courage in the face of who was assumed to be someone higher up in the chain of command, one of the pirates stalks towards Patty and attempts to pry his cutting knife out of his hand. Instead of allowing it to be stolen, Patty unconsciously grips his knife tight in his hand and refuses to let go. 

Getting frustrated, the pirate starts pulling harder on the handle of the blade.

“Let go of your damn hand! Just frickin’ die already!” 

Feeling a sudden change in the aura around Sanji, Ritsu glances over only to see the chef levelling a deadly glare at the pirate. Seeing the man get ready to leap forward, Ritsu gazes back towards the altercation in anticipation.

Without warning, Sanji appears in front of the Kreig pirate and kicks him in the chest. From where he stands, Ritsu can hear the crack of the man's ribs as he flies backwards. Impacting with some of his crewmates, their momentum leads them to fly back into the form of Pearl. The Kreig Pirates commander stands there unperturbed. 

Catching the kitchen knife as it flew through the air, Sanji pointed it towards the downed pirates.

“A kitchen knife is the soul of a cook. It’s not something an amateur like you should even think about touching.” 

As Patty continues to groan on the deck of the Baratie, Sanji hands him his knife even as he states his next words. Ritsu, once more moving to stand next to the chef, looks on with fond eyes.

“Now, make sure that you kick the bucket for good this time. I’ll handle the rest.” 

Mocking the chefs statement to his coworker, five of the once down pirates get up to attack again. 

“You’re just a cook! You think you can take us pirates on?!”

Getting ready to defend Sanji if he needs to, Ritsu holds his arms out to aim towards the charging pirates. Seeing the man move fluidly and use a corkscrew move to kick all five attackers in the face, Ritsu relaxes once more. 

“Just a cook?” 

Sanji looks on with a dark expression on his face even as he continues to balance with one leg at 80 degrees in the air. 

“I’ll kill you scum!”


End file.
